NATALIE ANDERSON has been nominated in two categories for the British Soap Awards. Ahead of tonight’s star-studded ceremony, she talks to Saturday.

Emmerdale’s Natalie Anderson will have an agonising time at tonight’s British Soap Awards. But only briefly. Obviously she loves the event itself. And she’s “really, really overwhelmed” to have been nominated for Best Actress (for her role as Alicia Metcalfe) and Best Dramatic Performance.

It’s just the whole red carpet thing. She’s not keen.

“I find it so daunting,” she confesses. “I think it’s because I have to get my head around being myself when I’m used to being in character.

“When I was younger, I always thought, ‘Wow, I’d love to do that, it would be amazing.’ But when you actually get to do it, and you’ve got photographers shouting your name and snapping away, you’re like, ‘Oh God, oh God!’ You find yourself getting quite flustered.

I was shocked but extremely intrigued

Natalie Anderson

“I brought a friend with me to an awards ceremony once and she was so excited, and then we went down the red carpet and she was like, ‘That was horrible, I don’t know how you do this!’

“But obviously I do understand it has to be done, and it’s great to have the pictures.”

“They have all put in fantastic performances,” she says. “I’m thrilled to have even made it onto the shortlist.”

So going further, and converting either of her nominations into an actual award, would clearly mean the world for 33-year-old Bradford-born Natalie, who joined the Yorkshire soap in 2010.

“It makes me a bit giddy,” she says, “I’ve been working since I was 15 and I’ve never been nominated for anything in terms of my acting. I’m so chuffed.”

But then it would also mean the world for the whole cast and crew if Emmerdale triumphs in any of the 12 categories it’s contesting tonight, particularly given its latest BAFTA snub.

ITV

Natalie has played Alicia Metcalfe in Emmerdale since 2010

Awards-wise, the show has had a rough deal over the years, despite consistently strong ratings. Last month, BAFTA judges chose to omit it from their Soap and Continuing Drama category for the second year running, a decision that clearly hurt.

“I was gutted,” says Natalie. “I’m really proud of the show. We pull in great audiences and it does make me cross that we don’t get the recognition we deserve.

“We’ve had fantastic storylines, we really push the boundaries, and I think our cast is incredible. Think of the storyline about Val Pollard’s HIV, for example. It was superbly acted by Charlie Hardwick (Val) and Chris Chittell (Eric) and it covered HIV from a completely different angle.

“Our producer Kate Oates is brilliant. She has amazing stories and she is very brave, always trying to tackle things in a different way.”

A prime example of that, of course, has been the sexual assault storyline that’s earned Natalie her nominations.

“When Kate first mentioned it to me, I was shocked but extremely intrigued by it,” says Natalie. “It was a different angle, a different take, particularly when you factor in that Alicia’s assault was by a 14-year-old boy.

“It wasn’t an adult-to-adult situation where she could point the finger and go, ‘You’re completely to blame, you’re the villain, you’re the one who’s in the wrong.’ I liked the idea that there was some questioning, some complexities.

“Alicia was doubting herself, because he was a child and she was the adult.

She felt she should have been in control of the situation. It was obviously very emotional filming those scenes. As an actor, it was easily my biggest challenge to date.

“I like to be quite thorough with things, which I know can drive people mental, so when Kate told me about the storyline I immediately started researching, to really understand the range of emotions Alicia would be going through.

It was so varied, from crying her eyes out to screaming her head off, and everything in between.

“When we did the sexual assault scenes, Thomas was so professional (Thomas Atkinson plays Lachlan White, the teenager who assaulted Alicia). It was obviously an uncomfortable situation to be in, and it should have been, because that’s what we were conveying. It meant we were able to get people talking about the storyline and the content.

“So, yes, it’s definitely been a challenge, but one I’ve absolutely loved.”

Ironically, Natalie very nearly turned down the role of Alicia when it was first offered to her by the late Gavin Blyth, Emmerdale’s series producer at the time.

“You have always got to find things that you love about your character,” Natalie explains, “and reasons to justify their behaviour. In the very beginning, when Gavin offered me the job, I actually said, ‘I don’t think I can do this. She’s really nasty and aggressive and gobby.’

Gavin was like, ‘Yeah, you can, you’ll be absolutely fine.’

“I didn’t like her but in the end I wanted to play her because I thought it would push me as an actor. Previously I’d just been playing the nice girl (Natalie spent three years as Nurse Stella Davenport in ITV’s 60s-based medical drama The Royal) but eventually I thought, ‘Yeah, do you know what, I really want to give this a go and see if I can manage it.’

“And as the years have gone by I’ve grown to love her. She’s not me, but there’s a lot of me in her, I think, in the sense that she’s such a family girl. She’s cheekier than me, that’s for sure!”

Red-carpet worries aside, Natalie can’t wait for tonight’s big do, at Manchester’s Palace Theatre, where she’ll have husband James close by for moral support.

“The minute that bit’s done, I’ll start to enjoy myself. It will be a fun night.

It’ll be great to have all the cast there together and to mix with people from the other soaps. I’ve got friends on Hollyoaks and Corrie, and I know some of the EastEnders lot as well.

So it’ll be a really nice atmosphere.”

And what if she wins and has to give a speech?

“Oh God, no, we won’t talk about that!” she says. “I’m not even thinking about it!”